In a former church way outside of Philadelphia, Mischief Brew recorded "The Stone Operation" loud and fast on tour-battered gear, fiercely strummed banjos, and trashy drum kits more suited for a fairground organ. All the flare of past recordings is there: junk percussion, drunken mandolin-playing, grotesque imagery in a lyric book that strangely resembles an early edition of “Grimm’s Household Tales.” But those are just spices, not the main dish - and the main course on “The Stone Operation” is raging hot. First pressing limited to 500 on split green and purple vinyl!

Another great album from the folk-punker known as erik petersen. unlike his previous releases, this one takes on more gypsy,pirate, harder-folk-influenced-punk if thats even a term. one of the best tracks on the album has to be "drinking song from the home stretch". doing odd summer jobs here and there in the trades, (and erik himself being a carpenter) the song just brought back memories of friday evenings wrapping up for the week. awesome track/album

Nicholas from Jericho, NY

May 30 2011

Rating:

Mischief Brew is one of those amazing bands that never seems to stay the same for more than one album, but still stay completely true to themselves. The Stone Operation is certainly far more on the punk side of folk-punk, but that's not really a bad thing. Some songs dance tastefully on the border of hardcore, but not quite as harsh; just hard enough to make you want to tear down the world around you and build a better one. Songs like "On The Sly" act as an anthem for the musicians and artists who fight tooth and nail to find venues, as the independent music industry collapses around us. As mentioned before, though, this album is definitely Mischief Brew staying true to themselves, as seen in songs like "Drinking Song for the Home Stretch", a wonderful tune about drinking on the job, anti-consumerism, anti-elitism, and general camaraderie with, well, one's comrades, coworkers, and compatriots. Overall, this album is definitely worth the purchase. I can not recommend it highly enough, and I can say you most definitely won't regret buying it.